Over the last 6 years working at BikeSource Charlotte I’ve been the “resident triathlete” and have talked with innumerable aspiring or first time triathletes about what they should do and not do, things to be careful of and common pitfalls of
-Do NOT do anything in a race that you haven’t done in training (Example 1: even if your buddy tells you he/she uses this awesome nutrition stuff, don’t try this on race day for the first time; it might be great for him/her, it might upset your stomach. Example 2: don’t wear cool new triathlon clothes if you haven’t tried swimming, biking and running in them; they might chafe or be uncomfortable.)
-Get to the race early, probably at least an hour and thirty minutes before the race. There’s a lot more to do than at a 5k: you have to park, pick up your packet, get body marked, pick up your timing chip, set up your transition area, put stickers on your bike, go to the bathroom, and get down to the swim start. There’s no need to rush and forget something on the morning of the race.
-Once you get your bike set up in the transition area, walk through where you will come into transition area from the swim and go to your bike, then walk out the “Bike Out” where you will go to start your bike ride, then walk from the “Bike In” to your transition area and then walk to the “Run Out.” Do this so you know where you’ll need to go to get to and from your bike to the race course. A bunch of people get confused in the transition and head toward the wrong exit and then have to turn around. The bike racks are typically all numbered, but the numbering method isn’t always the easiest to understand, especially when you’re nice and tired from just getting out of the swim or finishing the bike up.
-Practice your transitions before the race. Doing a triathlon for the first time can be really overwhelming, but knowing that you don’t have anything to worry about with the transitions can help ease your mind of at least one item. When you practice your transitions figure out a way you’re going to do it and practice it that way so that the day of the race it is second nature. Determine what you’ll need and only put that stuff in your transition area, there’s no need to add clutter to the area, there’s already going to be quite a bit of stuff in a small area.
-Practice going from the swim to the bike and especially bike to run so you’ll know what it’s going to feel like in the race. A lot of people are really surprised how much different it is to run after biking than just running. Practicing this will also help prevent you from going too fast on the bike, because you’ll realized you can’t just go all out on the bike and expect to be run really well.
-Don’t go out too fast on the swim or the bike. You’ll be excited/nervous to start with and most people’s tendencies’ are to go out too fast and slow down on the second half of the race. If you start out slower on the swim and bike you can always go faster on the run. This will be a much more enjoyable way to race (you’ll feel much better during the run this way) and you’ll probably go just as fast or faster than if you go out hard on the swim and bike.
-If the triathlon is an open water swim try to find an open water swim practice sighting (looking at the buoys to know where to go), dealing with waves, and swimming with other people. Even if you are really good at swimming in a pool, swimming in a lake or ocean with no lane line at the bottom of the pool can be something completely different. If you live in the Charlotte area the Lake Norman YMCA has open water swim starting at the end of April that are fully supported (the have kayakers in the lake so if you have problems they will come over and you can hold onto their kayak until you feel better).
-If it is an open water swim do NOT start in the middle of the pack for the swim, be one of the last one or two people out on either the extreme right or left of the group. If you are in the middle of the group you will only swim a couple meters less than if you are out to the extreme ends, but there’s a good chance of being kicked in the face or swam over. While swimming an extra couple meters you swim will be much more enjoyable and possibly less painful.
-Get a timing chip holder and a racebelt. At the race you’ll be given a timing chip (most races) and a plastic band to hold it around your ankle, unfortunately these plastic bands can cut into you if you’re not lucky (it’s happened to me, I almost bled to death and had to be airlifted to a hospital). The timing chip holders that you can get at a shop will be made of neoprene and will be much more comfortable. Fuel belt makes good timing chip holders and racebelts (many other companies make them as well),
-Many people are really nervous before their first triathlon, this is ok, and almost everyone feels that way before their first one. One of the biggest concerns is being able to finish the race, if you are able to do a swim, bike and run of the each segment of the race you can finish, yes putting them all together is more difficult but not that much worse. If you can do each of the distances your biggest obstacle will be going out too fast and not your fitness. I definitely recommend going out easier than you think you should for the swim, bike and run; you can always go faster at the end of each segment or faster during the run. Not only will you have a much better experience because it will be a much more even effort than going out hard and then having to survive at the end of the race, you’ll probably have a better time.
-Another thing to remember is that most triathletes are nice and helpful and will be more than happy to answer any last minute question a first timer might have so don’t be afraid if you are confused about something.
-Along those lines if you have questions or concerns that I haven’t addressed here please feel free to e-mail me: crouisse@biggear.com or come into BikeSource Charlotte, I’m always more than happy to answer questions for people that are getting into triathlons.
